Hopping Mad SpecTAPular just a week away! Here's the final lineup.

This time next Saturday is SpecTAPular VII!

Hopping Mad will feature 17 of the best Aussie (and three NZ) tap beers with a hop focus (aroma, flavour and/or bitterness). All the beers won't be BIG beers although there will be plenty for the hopheads..

There'll be entertainment, food and all the usual high jinx from midday in both venues!

Entry is Gold Coin. 100% will be donated to Australian Red Cross Haiti Appeal (Syd) or The Local Arts Initiative (Mel)..

Here's the confirmed lineup:

1. Stone & Wood Draught Ale (NSW)
2. Mountain Goat Fancy Pants (VIC)
3. Murrays Icon Double IPA (NSW)
4. Feral Hop Hog IPA (WA)
5. Feral Fanta Pants Imperial Red Ale (WA)
6. Epic Armageddon IPA (NZ)
7. Epic Pale Ale (NZ)
8. Colonial IPA (WA)
9. Hargreaves Hill ESB (VIC)
10. Holgate Road Trip Pale Ale (VIC) - first time at Taphouse
11. Macs Hop Rocker Pilsner (NZ) - first time ever on tap in Australia
12. Red Duck IPA (VIC)
13. Wicked Elf American Pale Ale (NSW)
14. Bridge Rd Galaxy Single Hop IPA (VIC)
15. True South’s New World Pilsner (VIC) - first time at Taphouse
16. Duke Pale Ale (QLD)
17. 3 Ravens 55 pale ale (VIC)
18. Lord Nelson Three Sheets (NSW) - first time at Taphouse
19. Zierholz Hopmeister (VIC) - first time at Taphouse
20. Boatrocker Alpha Queen APA (VIC)

Winner of Hottest 100 beer prize chosen..

Congrats to Mark Anderson (NSW) who is the winner (randomly selected - thanks to David our accountant picking a number) of a case each of the Top 5 beers.

Lucky SOAB..

BeerMasons - rather large beers in a winter wonderland

As per my previous post, the good folks from Beermasons were off in Colorado on a beer trip. Here's their next installment:

Big: a whale of a; capacious; chock-full; humongous; mammoth; sizeable; super-colossal; voluminous; walloping. No matter what synonym we choose to describe the Vail Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival, it just doesn’t seem to capture the delicious essence of the event. (Hence our list of eight, just to get our point across.)

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the festival is an extravaganza of big American craft brews and special imports. Brewers get to strut their stuff and mingle with serious beer lovers. Being able to duck off to Vail’s 5,200+ acres of ski terrain is an added bonus.

This event delivers serious beer and serious fun. The brainchild of High Point brewing couple Laura and Bill Lodge, the event has grown considerably in appeal and importance, with visitors coming from all over the country and around the globe. The siren song of commercial tastings, brewmasters’ dinners, seminars, an experimental brewing forum and an American Homebrewers Association–sanctioned homebrew competition makes for four days of extreme enjoyment in a winter wonderland.

Vail, Colorado, was first developed by intrepid ranchers, who were followed quickly by gold- and silver-hungry prospectors. At the Welcome Drinks, we realised we had hit the mother lode. We faced a dizzying array of big beers brewed specifically to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the event, served largely by the men and women who created them.

Ponder this short list of some of the highlights and you will appreciate the obviousness of the question: Where the hell do we start?

Allagash Brewing Co. – Curieux (a bourbon barrel–aged Tripel)
Anchor Brewing Co. – Our Barrel Ale (a blend of Anchor ales finished in rye whiskey barrels from the Anchor Distilling Co. and never released for retail sale)
Avery Brewing Co. – Sui Generis (a small-batch, Red Zindafel barrel-aged wild ale)
Boulder Beer Co. – Killer Penguin Barley Wine (a small batch, brewed once a year)
Bristol Brewing Co. – Skull and Bones (aged sour wheat)
Boulevard Brewing Co. – BBF 10th Anniversary Dubbel (spectacular!)
Deschutes Brewery – Mirror Mirror (a single-barrel vintage of Mirror Pond barley wine aged in French oak)
Dogfish Head – Sah’tea (Rye beer, the wort caramelised with hot river rocks and fermented with german wheat yeast, with the addition of juniper berries, black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and black pepper – insane and divine!)
Great Divide Brewing Co. – BBF 10th Anniversary Oak-aged Hades (Belgian golden ale aged in oak)
Grand Teton Brewing Co. – Howling Wolf Weizenbock (strong, dark, wheat lager)
Left Hand Brewing Co. – BBF 10th Anniversary Weizenbock (strong wheat lager brewed with Lapsang Souchong tea – we were skeptical, it was moreish!)

This is a mere taste of the lineup, many of which will be heading your way in the not too distant future!

Our takeaway from this event? American craft brewers are extremely creative. They are in throes of an experimental brewing boom and enjoying what may in the future be described as the ‘New Golden Age’ for American craft beer. The feeling at this event was joyous, exciting, friendly and unforgettable.

There is also a strong spirit of cooperation among these brewers. While there is friendly competition they all seem to understand that united they stand and customers they share.

We will certainly be back, and hopefully, many of our fellow BeerMasons will be able to come along with us.

Until next time – here’s to better and bigger beers!

The BeerMasons

Feb Ale Stars - beer lineup

In Feb, both Ale Star sessions are featuring the interesting sour/lambic beers. This is the lineup:

Cantillon 100% Lambic Bio

Lindemans Kriek

Rodenbach

Feral Dark Funk, a red ale fermented in chardonnay barrels with lactobacillus and pediococcus bacterias

Bookings via left of this blog. $30 inc beer/pizza.. 7.30pm

Feb 2 (Darlo)
Feb 16 (St K)

See ya then!

St Kilda Ales Stars - American Pale Ales

Tueday saw the first Ale Star session in St Kilda for 2010 and we were treated to some great beers and some of our most peopluar guests yet.

A huge thanks to Travis, Mick and Fenton from Kooinda for sharing their tales of success and plans for the future.

I think all agreed we would love to see Kooinda continue to grow whilst maintaining the fantastic quality in their brews.

I'll hand over to the Prof's version of the nights events now but stay tuned for some pics from the night.

Cheers and Beers,

The Local Crew

If you're in Perth this Friday..

If you're in Perth this Friday, you may be interested in this from Little Creatures:

Hi Hopheads,

At the brewery we are running a little experiment in which we have dry-hopped two 50L kegs of Rogers' - each with a different Tasmanian Hop Variety - support the locals, eh?

These kegs will be dispensed "English style" through our hand pump in our Brewhouse Cellar Door this coming Friday 22nd January from 4pm.

The first keg has been dry-hopped with Topaz - a very high bitterness hop (16.5%AA for those brewing-orientated people!), with a lovely aroma. The second keg is dry-hopped with a Tasmanian Hallertau - a local take on a classic German hop.

The Tuesday afternoon crew have dosed up the kegs, so they are resting now and absorbing hop aroma and flavour. We know it's not all that much time from Tuesday to Friday (in dry-hopping terms), so we debated it and added a wee bit
more just in case.......

So if you want to try the experiment, and perhaps have a drink with the brewers, feel free to come down. And hey, don't be scared if the beer is a little more warm and flat than you are accustomed to - it's meant to be that way!

Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Brews of 2009 announced next Tuesday!

Now the poll has closed, Justin and the St K boys (not above!) are furiously tallying the votes so we can announce the Hottest 100 Aussie Craft Beers of 2009 next Tue (Australia Day). If this poll grows any more, I think we are going to need some swanky software to help!

Drumroll please...

Mad Brewer's new Saison/Farmhouse Ale style coming v soon

Malt Shovel's offshoot Mad Brewer is about to send us their new apple wheat beer. It's a 5% Saison/Farmhouse Ale style..

We'll send out an SMS beer bulletin when it's tapped..

Murray's Jan seasonal coming v soon.

If you are a seasoned reader of this blog, you'll know that Murray's Brewing Co (NSW) are producing monthly seasonals this year and all of them will be tapped at the Taphouses..

I just plucked this off Murray's blog re the first one:

January seasonal ENDLESS SUMMER. Has finished its fermentation. Transfering now to the conditioning tank should be a cracker of a beer for Australia day

Apparently people that drink beer can live in glass houses

Here's a fun story sent to me by a great friend of mine in France.

Now people that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw bricks, but apparently people that drink beer can live in glass houses.

Two more special guests at next Tuesday's St K Ale Stars

Not only is Travis Pain joining the next St Kilda Ale Star session on American-style Pale Ales (next Tues 19), so are the other 2 Kooinda brewers - Mick and Fenton.

Tix are $30 as normal for beer/pizza and you can book via link in the left hand column of the blog.. Starts 7pm..

2009 Hottest 100 poll attracts twice as many as last year. Voting ends Sunday!

You now have until this Sunday at midnight to vote for your top 10 beers of 2009 in the Hottest 100 Aussie craft beers poll.

See more here

So far, it looks like double the number of people have voted this year (as opposed to last year) which is a great indication of craft beer lovers around the country..

The States - part 4

Kel at Father's Office 2 in LA
My first round of tasters at Elysian Capitol Hill, Seattle.
Dick Cantwell, head brewer and owner of Elysian in Seattle.
A typical Seattle supermarket beer aisle!!

After NY came LA where we checked out Fathers Office 2 (the original, Fathers Office, was where I was first introduced to craft beer) which was fantastic. It's quite slick in its decor but done very well. The staff were excellent and the tap beer selection and food very good.

There are plenty of dive beer bars in the States (which I personally like) but more places like FO2 will help sell craft beer to a broader audience. While in LA, I also re-visited Library Ale House and The Daily Pint.

We flew into Seattle on Monday and after settling in to a lovely B&B, headed off to locate the local Pike Brewpub and The Stumbling Monk.

That night we visited Uber Tavern which (along with Brouwers) seems to be the best for beer in town. It's very small and friendly. Ken behind the bar looked after us brilliantly and we had a great conversation about the local scene..

It seems that for many (not all) beer lovers in the States, it's pretty much all about the big, extreme or seasonal beers. One customer at Uber told me that bar loyalty is less important than where the beer he wants is. Given this demand, there is apparently fierce competition between venues to secure a beer either first or exclusively.

For mine, I think it's fun trying these new big, extreme or seasonal beers but there's also a time for more traditional styles done well (which my brewer pals say is just as hard, if not harder, to brew).

On many of these venues' menus, beers under 6% ABV may make up less than 10% of the tap list, hardly encouraging people to hang around for a session..

Anyway, later checked out Brouwers Café, Beveridge Place Pub, Collins Pub and Elysian Capitol Hill (where I met the renowned brewer/owner Dick Cantwell). The Stumbling Monk will have to wait until I get back there on Friday.

We've now just arrived in Portland (3 hours drive south) and am stealing myself for another night of bar hopping. On the menu? Horse Brass Pub, Belmont Station, Deschutes, Widmer, Bailey's Taproom, Laurelwood Public House, Henry's 12th Street Tavern, Concordia Ale House and, of course, Rogues..

Wish me luck..

Here's a list of a few more beers I've downed (samples of mostly):

Chuckanut Pilsner (blah)

Double Mountain Hop Lava

Elsyian Zephyrus Pils

Elsyian Perseus Porter

Elsyian The Wise ESB

Elsyian Bye Bye Frost

Elsyian Immortal IPA

Elsyian AK-47 Malt Liquor

Elsyian Valhalla Christmas Ale

Elsyian Toro Oro Mate Tripel

Elsyian Prometheus IPA

Elsyian Bete Noel Belgian-style ale

Laguinitas Brown Shugga

Lost Abbey Angel's Share

Southern Tier Oat stout

Alesmith Anvil ESB

Russian River Pliny the Elder Double IPA

I've added a bunch of new photos to the photo album below..

Darlo staffer Jordan explores the Beers n' Breweries of Hawaii

Aloha! After reading reports of Steve's alcoholic adventures across the United States, I decided to book a trip of my own. Under the guise of a 'romantic getaway', I managed to undertake a full fledged tour of duty, in the name of beer, under the flag of the Local Taphouse Australia.

Destination: Hawaii.

As with most US cities, HI is big on craft beer. Easily the largest being the Kona Brewing Company. Almost all bars, restaurants (even gyms!) tap the smooth, gently hopped Longboard Lager or the rich and bitter Fire Rock Pale.

The brewery itself was a treat. Picture swaying palms, sunning turtles and ukulele ambience drifting on the afternoon breeze. The Kona Coffee Pipeline Porter pours deep, dark and ruby. A very, very smooth beer, chock full of roasted coffee and by far my favourite Kona brew. Next on the hitlist, the worlds Eastern most brewery 'Waimea brewery' in Kuai. With a head brewer renowned for exessive hopping, each beer tasted,.... kind of the same. Capt Cook IPA, however, did our founding
father proud!

Other notable micro's of Hawaii include Hawaii Nui's 'Sunset Amber', Maui Brewing's 'CoCoNut Porter' and Mehana's 'Volcano Red Ale'

Finally, if in Waikiki, please visit The Yardhouse. An incredible range of taps from the most obscure lambic to exotic hybrids and everything in between.

Come check out some of Hawaii's finest bottled brews now donning the walls of the Taphouse Darlo!

Jordan

Darlo Jan Ale Stars session

Darlinghurst kicked off its 2010 Ale Star sessions with American-style Pale Ales on Tuesday night. The event was held in the restaurant and marked the return of Sam, back for her first Ale Stars since becoming a member in 2009.

AG brought a crew along from Wollongong region (top photo) who revelled in the trivia challenge but fell to the might of Team Awesome!

Ale Star member pint glasses were distributed with most punters hoping that tastings would be moving to pint size for 2010!

Hargreaves Hill showcase is underway (which includes their new kellerbier)

The Hargreaves Hill showcase is underway in both venues! Keep an eye on the blog list for what's on when. The lineup includes their new German-style kellerbier which is a bit of a coup.

Hargreaves Hill Brewery is located in Victoria's Yarra Valley. It was destroyed by the Black Saturday bushfires but now has a gleaming new brewery in neighbouring Lilydale.

Line up for St Kilda Ale Stars

To kick off the new decade in a truly Ale Stars way, we will be sampling one of the styles that started the craft beer revolution - American Pale Ales.
Ale Stars Tsar Shandy has compiled a line up that will take us from historic beginnings right up until present day 2010.

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (USA)
Little Creatures Pale Ale (WA)
Matilda Bay Alpha Pale Ale (Vic.)
Kooinda Pale Ale (Vic.)

Special Guest Travis Pain of Kooinda Boutique Brewery will be in with tales of pale ales.

19th of January, 7pm sharp @ The Local Taphouse (St Kilda)

$30 includes 4 samples of beer and pizza, book using button on the left hand side of the blog.

A genuine joke from Queensland

As emailed to me by TF:

At a national conference of the Australian Hotels Association, the general managers of Cascade Brewery (Tasmania), Tooheys (New South Wales), XXXX (Queensland), CUB (Victoria) and Coopers (South Australia) found themselves sitting at the same table for lunch.

When the waitress asked what they wanted to drink, the GM of Tooheys said without hesitation, “I’ll have a Tooheys New..”

To which the boss of Coopers rejoined, “I’ll have a Coopers, the King of Beers.”

And the bloke from Cascade asked for “a Cascade, the cleanest draught on the planet.”

The General Manager of Carlton & United paused a moment and then placed his order: “VB.”

The head of XXXX smiled and said “I’ll have a Diet Coke.”

The others looked at him has if he had sprouted a new head.

“Well,” he said with a shrug, “if you ladies aren’t drinking beer, then neither will I.”

Darlinghurst January Ale Stars

The Darlo Ale Star session kicks off for the year at 7pm on Tuesday 12th January. Come along to chat with AG and others about American-style Pale Ales. The lineup is:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (USA)

Alpha Pale Ale (VIC)

Murrays Nirvana Pale Ale (NSW)

Kooinda Pale Ale (VIC)

$30 inc beer samples and pizza. Book via the button in the left hand column of this blog.

A newbie's perspective on an Ale Star session

I just received this terrific post by a first-timer at an Ale Star session (St Kilda in Dec).

Thanks to Gemma for sending it through. See you at the next session hopefully :-)

New Year, New Look Blog

We thought a new look would keep this blog interesting.. Hope you like it!

Hottest 100 Aussie craft beers poll (2009) ends soon

Don't forget to vote for your top 10 beers of 2009 in our Hottest 100 Aussie craft beers poll as it ends on Sunday January 14th. Hottest 100 will be announced on Australia Day!

See more here

Rocks Harts pub opening in Sydney in 3 weeks

I believe that Rocks Harts pub is finally opening in about 3 weeks time in The Rocks. An ex-Local staffer, Mark Fethers, and brewer Scotty Morgan are involved so I'm sure it will be great. They will have their own Rocks Brewing beers on tap plus some rotating craft beers.

Hoorah for another beer destination in Sydney and good luck to the lads..

Beermasons Colorado trip update

I don't think the excellent, Melbourne-based Beermasons beer merchants will mind me posting this update from their current trip to Colorado. I thought it made for a great read.

Welcome to Denver, Colorado – where the air and the beer make you feel like a fish!

The start of 2010 sees us searching the highways and byways of Denver and nearby regions for better beer. We know we’re in the right place – beer is so ubiquitous that we have a sneaking suspicion even the fire hydrants may be primed to pump the amber fluid.

As the tourism guides tell you, Denver is 5,280 feet (one mile) above sea level and known as the Mile High City. When you first get here, the slightest exertion in the thin air leaves you gasping like a fish out of water. The locals tell us this passes quickly; however, the desire to drink like a fish stays with you as long as you’re here.

Denver ranks first in the United States in beer production per capita and second in the number of breweries. In a nod to the range and quality of its brews, the greater Denver region is actually known colloquially as the Napa Valley of Beer. There are more than 90 breweries in Colorado and the abundance of choice and support for craft brewing in the state is evident everywhere you turn.

Take downtown Denver watering hole Falling Rock Tap House, our first stop before commencing our state wide beer hunt. The sign above the bar said it all: “No crap on tap!” We very quickly wanted to add a second sign: “BeerMasons will be happy here!”

However, we couldn’t ask Bryan the barman where the joint’s name came from as we were three deep and jostling with eager locals to sample some of the sensational 69 local and international beers on tap.

We did have a friendly argument with some fellow beer enthusiasts over American craft beer lovers’ obsession with huge, highly-hopped beers.

It became a discussion of nature versus nurture. On one hand you could argue it is a result of Americans’ general predilection for all things BIG – massive cars, loud music and the surprisingly large pickles they serve with everything here. We are talking about the habit of magnifying or nurturing European and English creations and modifying them to take on a truly American style.

Then there is the nature argument, whose proponents believe that the hops flourishing in this country create a market of beer lovers with strong thresholds for bitterness and hop aromas. Since the early 1800s, American farmers have been developing and commercially harvesting a mix of European, Wild North American and hybridised hops, the most famous being Cascade hops.

This position received a serious boost when a man walked through our group, motioned to Bryan the barman and said: “Give me your hoppiest beer.” No questions asked, just blind faith that Bryan would hand him a beer that tasted like licking a hop pellet. When we asked Bryan what that was about, he just smiled, shrugged his shoulders and replied: “Hop head.”

Whether the answer is nature or nurture, Colorado is getting it right for brewers and beer lovers. There’s a good yarn about why this is so, but we will save that for another time.

If you are ever in downtown Denver (and if you are heavily into craft beer, at some point in time you will be) make sure you check out Falling Rock Tap House

We’ll also be posting a full report on our Colorado tour of duty to help you plan your own tour.

Little Creatures come aboard to sponsor Local Laughs comedy nights

We are thrilled to announce that from February Little Creatures Brewing will be the new sponsor of our ever-popular standup comedy night, Local Laughs. It will now be known as Little Creatures Local Laughs in both venues.

With St Kilda's Local Laughs the longest running standup night in Melbourne (and with more than 500 comedians having graced the stage) and Darlo a newbie to the Sydney comedy scene, we look forward to a long association with Little Creatures.

For punters, LC's sponsorship means LC drink deals on the night.. that's the best kind of sponsorship right?

Little Creatures' Local Laughs is on Sunday nights in Darlo and Monday nights in St Kilda. Subscribe to our Facebook group to receive the weekly lineups..

New Years Eve in St Kilda... What a cracker!! (with pics)

We welcomed a new decade with a bang on Thursday night. A huge crowd rolled in for the festivities and the dancefloor was rocking.

Almost everyone got into the 1920s theme and the array of gangsters, flapper dresses and the 'onesy' swimming costume made us feel like we had all stepped back in time.

The beers flowed and the vibe was awesome.

A massive thanks to Sim and the Holiday Adventure for the entertainment and thanks to all of the local and not so local punters who made the night so special.

Thanks again to everyone for making our 2009 a great year. We look forward to making 2010 just as great.

For all the pics from the night click here.

Cheers and Beers,

Steve, Guy, Justin, James, Ben, Beccy and all the Local Crew.

Anyone tried Samuel Adams Utopias?

I was very lucky last night to sample the famed Samuel Adams Utopias, until recently the strongest beer in the world at 27% ABV. I was in Boston's Sunset Grill & Tap (with its 112 beers on tap) and it was my last beer of the night - thankfully.

Truly terrific..

More soon..

PS. Even better was I got a receipt!

Red Hill hop harvest - update..

For those who have expressed interest, this year's hop harvest at Red Hill is likely to happen on a Wednesday and Thursday in early/mid March as they can’t accommodate the hop pickers on the weekend due to the business being open.

This will be a unique and fun experience so flag a day off with the boss now! We'll be told the official date late February and will organise transport..